The Bread Of Life

The Bread Of Life

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:35

These are unusually direct words: Christ is bread. He is food given by God. Whoever eats this bread will be satisfied, will not hunger or thirst, and will live forever. Furthermore, this bread from heaven was standing right in front of the Israelites.

Jesus began his sermon gently enough: “He who comes to me . . .” The further he proceeded, the more pointed and direct he became. He easily could have said, “he who eats of me,”instead of “he who comes to me.” But that would have been premature. He wanted the people to understand him, so he used the words “he who comes to me” and then explained that he meant “he who believes in me.” This is a profound statement: to come to Christ is to believe in Christ. It means having the bread and eating it. Jesus, however, wasn’t talking about eating in a church or at a wedding. He wasn’t talking about eating beef or veal, as his listeners might have thought. He was speaking of bread in the sense of people coming to Christ—in other words, believing in Christ. For “eating” and “coming to Christ” and “believing in Christ” all mean the same.

Christ comes to us, and the Father gives us manna from heaven. All that is missing is for us to come to him. This may offend you. You can’t come to Christ—even if you are his closest relative—unless you believe in him. Through his Word, Christ is closer to you than a child with his arms wrapped around your neck. When you believe in him, then he is with you and close to you. He is right in front of you, before your eyes and ears, so that you can almost see and hear him. Simply believe in him.